Entrepreneur Award 2020: Awarded microenterprises

Despite the current circumstances, the Business Expo 2020 was held with the Entrepreneur Award, and online. Various workshops were offered on practical and current topics that concern small businesses, such as crisis management, marketing via social media, financial investments, online marketing and much more. These workshops could be booked in advance and were held as webinars.

Entrepreneur Award 2020 new in two categories

One of the highlights will be the presentation of the Entrepreneur Award. This award recognizes the achievements and commitment of the countless micro and small enterprises, many of which consist of just one person. In a multi-stage nomination process, a shortlist of three finalists was selected in each of the categories "small business" (2 to 49 employees) and "sole proprietorship without employees". These had the opportunity to present their business model in a three-minute pitch to a panel of experts. This jury of four, Lukas Nauer (CEO netpulse AG), Riccarda Mecklenburg (founder CrowdConsul.ch), Rolf Kummli (founder KUMMLI Netzwerk GmbH) and Sandra Ischi (co-owner Permashop AG), represents a very strong connection to micro-enterprises. All jury members once started "small" themselves or are consciously on the road as micro-enterprises themselves.

Small business with ambition and a sense of sustainability

The finalists for the Entrepreneur Award 2020 in the category "Small businesses with 2 to 49 employees" were:

• Kay Keusen with his Premium Swiss Chocolate GmbH from Adliswil: The business model is based on the "bean-to-bar" concept. This means that the entire supply chain, from the cocoa bean to the finished product, can be tracked seamlessly. And the complete production of the chocolate bars also takes place without intermediate products. In other words, everything is cracked, roasted, conched, ground, sieved, tempered and poured in-house. This results in premium products with a wide variety of flavors.
• Michi Keel with Simplee AG: The core competencies of this small company from Dübendorf lie in the implementation of charging infrastructures for electric cars. The company sets up chargers in new or existing underground garages, for example, and also handles the billing of the electricity used. simplee AG has already won projects from well-known clients.
• Karin Patton with the Barfuss Brewery Ltd. from Wuppenau TG: From a hobby brewery in the laundry room developed since 2014 to a creative production of gourmet beers in combination with regional "appetizers". The Barfuss Brewery has also made a name for itself with tasting events and has already been able to take top places with its products at some of the renowned awards in the beer brewing scene.

Of these three finalists, it was ultimately Barfuss Brauerei GmbH with Karin Patton that convinced the jury the most. In particular, the emphasis on sensory aspects was praised: "The sensory takes on a new significance precisely because of the Corona pandemic," said jury member Riccarda Mecklenburg. The integration of the family - Karin Patton's husband Bryan comes from Grand Rapids in the USA, the actual "beer capital" of the United States, and provided the actual impetus for home-brewed beer - as well as the agility of the company were also viewed positively by the jury. This is because the Barfuss Brewery's online store was quickly expanded and the sales concept adapted accordingly. The jury was also impressed by the microbrewery's "young talent concept": Instead of apprenticeship training, the brewery offers internships for apprenticeship graduates from Ticino or Welsh-speaking Switzerland. Karin Patton was visibly pleased with the award: "At last I'm in the front rank. Often enough I was only second!" was her first reaction.

Sole proprietors with a sense of craftsmanship

In the case of sole proprietorships, the following three entrepreneurs were in the final:

• Angelika Eggmann from Frauenfeld: She has revived a local specialty with the "Thurgauerli". Angelika Eggmann makes this confection from almond paste with a chocolate coating herself and sells them in her Heart Manufacture Ltd. as gift packs. Angelika Eggmann pays special attention to local suppliers and fair trade products.
• Tanja Kunz, Baar ZG, has a "Female Power Coaching"for ambitious power women. As a "mental mountain guide", she encourages women to tap their potential and use it for a successful professional career. Tanja Kunz has been on the road independently since March 2020 and has already been able to successfully offer her program several times. Through a high level of activity in social media, she draws attention to the topic of "Gender Equality" and strives to be able to accompany her own women's advancement programs in companies.
• Karin Jost, Möhlin AG: The trained biology lab technician produces natural soaps, which she sells in her "Soap Garden" named company offers for sale. No synthetic fragrances or colors are used in these soaps, only plant-based raw materials. The products are therefore particularly well tolerated by people suffering from skin diseases such as neurodermatitis - which also affects Karin Jost. The products are sold online, and from January 2021, the company will now also open its own store.

In the end, "craftsmanship" won the race in this category as well: The Entrepreneur Award 2020 was won by Karin Jost. The jury paid particular tribute to the continuity of business development and Karin Jost's motivation to continue a sustainable business model and diversify the product range despite high production costs and low margins. "Her visions of how she wants to go into the future with her soap garden convinced us," summarized jury member Sandra Ischi.

Entrepreneur Award honors impressive examples of (small) entrepreneurship in action

Overall, all the nominated companies mentioned here were characterized by a high degree of intrinsic motivation for their entrepreneurship: They live for their small business. Not all entrepreneurs are yet able to make a 100 percent living from their business, but they are nevertheless highly satisfied with their current work-life balance. First and foremost is the conviction that they are responsible for something and can make their own entrepreneurial decisions.

The pitches and the award ceremony can be viewed as a video here: https://entrepreneur-award.ch/pitching-siegerehrung